In Lebanon, on the morning of May 18th John Hyatt Gravel, 76, found his sought after "Peace and Quiet" and freedom from medical chaos.

John was born in Chester, PA, on July 1st 1947, to Robert Zotique Gravel and Marguerite (Molly) MacLeod Gravel. He joined three older siblings, Mona, Daniel and Ken.

Being a military family, they lived in a few places before settling in Key West in 1949. John attended all 12 years of schooling there, graduating in 1966. He attended the Florida Keys Community College, for a bit, before joining the US Army in November 1967. He was stationed in Japan and Korea during his 4 years in the Army ASA division. He liked Japan so much he stayed on for an extra year, getting on the plane, for home, one day before his ticket expired. He decided, upon return, that Key West was no longer for him and he moved to New York City and loved it. While in NYC he attended the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League. He worked at Faberge', for a bit, in their Art department and then became a Margin Clerk on Wall Street. In NYC John met his first wife, Alison. It was her decision to attend Vermont Law School that brought them to Vermont. John got a jb at Trafalgar Square Publishing in North Pomfret. With his love of books this was a perfect job. Alison and John later divorced.

In 1995 he started seeing Deborah Besaw of Woodstock. They married in 2002 at Saint-Gaudens, in Cornish, NH in a small ceremony, and had many happy years together. John worked for Trafalgar Square Publishing for 21 years and said he had the most beautiful drive to work, each day, that anyone could ask for. When the British book division moved to Chicago, John worked, for a short time, at White River Paper before health issues made him retire early. In 2011 John had to go onto dialysis and remained on it until December 2015 when an anonymous, live donor gave him the best present anyone could ever get. Her gift gave John eight and a half years of freedom from dialysis. He guarded that kidney and made sure to treat it well.

John loved hiking, bicycling, walking, photography, painting and drawing. In later years he concentrated on a lot of reading and listening to good music. He usually would have two or three books going at a time as well as the New Yorker, many other magazines and newspapers. He loved Jeopardy and knew a lot of the answers. He enjoyed a lively discussion about politics, religion and world events. He was so happy if he came across anyone who spoke Japanese. He loved almost all kinds of music, especially classical, rock, blues and opera. He and his sister, Mona, used to meet in NYC and attend the opera at the Met. His very favorite music was Glenn Gould performing Bach. Throughout most of John's life his biggest love, besides books, was karate. He started training in Shorin-ryu in Key West under George Wong. There he earned ni-dan (second degree black belt). When he went to Japan he continued his training, studying Wado-Kai receiving the rank of ni-dan in 1969. Upon returning to the states the closest style he could find to Wado-Kai was Shotokan, which he continued up until just a few years before his death. He taught in several locations and also attended class in several locations. He loved going to other classes and enjoyed watching all styles of Martial Arts. He even tried Tai Chi for a time but decided it moved too slowly for him, though he enjoyed it. As of a few weeks ago, he still looked forward to going back to Hartland to watch the classes there. As his brother, Ken, put it, "He was such a gentle soul. He was a beautiful martial artist and when he was at his peak fighting form he didn't have an aggressive bone in his body. Such a humble warrior".

John was a member of the Woodstock Masonic Lodge and attended meetings until Covid. After, he really didn't go out at night much. He loved attending the Woodstock Senior Center, each day, for lunch and seeing cherished friends there. He always looked forward to the annual getaway to Ogunquit Maine where he got his "ocean fix".

John had a delightful sense of humor. When asked if anyone could get him anything his answer was usually, "Just peace and quiet". He liked everyone and was kind and generous, never expecting anything in return.

John is survived by his wife, Debbie of Woodstock, his sister, Mona Arreola (Raoul) of Jacksonville, FL, his brother, Ken Gravel (Jane) of Beaverton, OR , nieces and nephews, Cathi Montpellier (Bob) of Crawfordville, FL, Barbara Indermitte (Claude) of N. Attleboro, MA, Tom Knowles (Julie) of Collierville, TN and Rob Arreola (Melissa) of Nashville, TN, Kiah Gravel (Rachel) of Hillsboro, OR, Coby Gravel (Jessica) of Prescott, AZ and great nieces and nephews, Emily, Isabelle, Dominick and Sylvie Indermitte, Madelyn and Rob Montpellier, Catherine, Alexander, Victoria and Diana Knowles, Gabriel, Mia, Adrian and Alivia Gravel and Charles and Ethan Arreola, as well as many cousins and an aunt (Audrey) in Canada, also his first wife, and friend, Alison Gravel of South Royalton. He also is survived by his two precious cats, Neumann and Nikkei, who miss him terribly.

He was predeceased by his parents, a brother, Danny and several beloved aunts and uncles , especially Len and Max MacLeod, who made the summer trips to Canada so special.

The family would like to thank Dr. Michael Chobanian, Director of Transplant at Dartmouth-Hitchcock as well as all the doctors, nurses and staff of the White River Jct VA who always treated John with so much kindness and respect. Also the staff members at Fresenius as well as the friends made there. A special thanks to Deb's cousins, Hattie and Suzie, that always visited John whenever he was in the hospital. He adored them and would seek them out when he was at the VA.

Any donations may be made to the National Kidney Foundation or to the Edwin Thompson Senior Center in Woodstock.

There will be a "Celebration of Life", at a later date, at the Woodstock Senior Center.

An on-line guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com